Reviews

Midnight Club: Los Angeles

If you're not competing in a traditional race type, racing online is pure, delightful insanity. Not only are many of the game modes geared toward chaos and destruction, they also feature ten different power-ups that turn you invisible, zap opponents into the air, or encase them in a block of ice.

In addition to all of the single-player race modes, there are a variety of multiplayer-only race types, including five variations of Capture the Flag, three of which are team-based, and two of which are free-for-alls. The most innovative is the Stockpile variation, where a cluster of flags spawns, one fewer than the number of racers. When all of the flags in a cluster have been returned to the drop point, another cluster spawns. But in each cluster, there's a bomb flag that you only discover once you pick it up. You have to transfer it to an opponent before the timer expires or suffer severe damage and a point loss.

The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game are practically identical. Both feature crisp graphics and a high frame rate. The PS3 might have a very slight graphical edge over the 360, and the PS3's controls seem a bit tighter, but it's certainly not enough of a difference to influence which console to purchase it for.

But regardless of which version you choose to buy, there's much more than enough game here to justify the price tag. If you invest the time in tricking out your ride and mastering the more challenging difficulty levels, you'll be rewarded with an adrenaline rush that you won't find anywhere else.